


Seminar on Correcting False Perceptions

by onemechanicalalligator



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: Arguing, Boys Kissing, Episode: s05e07 Bondage and Beta Male Sexuality, Fix-It, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:15:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26253991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onemechanicalalligator/pseuds/onemechanicalalligator
Summary: Troy changes his mind about his trip and comes back to surprise Abed and see the Kickpuncher movie with him. He finds Abed handcuffed in Hickey's office.
Relationships: Troy Barnes/Abed Nadir
Comments: 28
Kudos: 221





	Seminar on Correcting False Perceptions

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for the prompt, you know who you are <3

It doesn’t take long for Troy to start panicking once he gets on the boat. To realize the gravity of what he is doing, leaving his friends and his school and his  _ Abed _ for an undetermined amount of time. Soon after that, Troy realizes why he separates  _ Abed _ from his friends in his mind, and why he says  _ Abed _ in his head as if it’s written in italics, and it’s because he’s in love with  _ Abed.  _ And that’s when Troy decides he’s not doing this, he’s not taking the trip, and so he and LeVar start searching the contract more thoroughly for loopholes. 

Once they find what they’re looking for, Troy calls Jeff to get his advice, to see if they’re understanding it correctly: that Troy doesn’t have to take the trip right away, that he can push it back a few years. And Jeff says _ yes, that’s absolutely correct, and also, when you do, Abed can go with you. Pierce hid that deep in the contract, probably to see how hard you’d be willing to look.  _

And that’s enough for Troy and LeVar to turn back, and LeVar is just as relieved as Troy, because he has a life and everything that he’d had to put on hold. This trip wasn’t his idea, he kind of got roped into it, and he’s more than happy for it to end before it even really begins. And Troy makes Jeff promise not to say anything to anyone, because Troy wants to surprise them, but he especially wants to surprise Abed, by going to see the  _ Kickpuncher  _ movie with him.

The timing is off, and he gets to school right around the time Abed should be leaving for the movie, and he’s worried that he’s missed him, that he’s too late. He’s running down the empty hall towards the study room when he hears a commotion inside Jeff and Hickey’s office, and he slows down and glances through the doorway to find Hickey and Abed screaming at each other, Abed dressed in his Kickpuncher costume. 

Troy stops and watches as Hickey screams at Abed, calling him self-centered and egotistical, making Troy’s blood boil. Abed screams back in a way Troy has never seen, something about cartoons that then devolves into a stream of, “Are we yelling right now? Yelling! I’m yelling!” Which is so heartbreakingly Abed that it makes Troy want to cry. 

And then he notices that  _ Abed is handcuffed to the file cabinet. _

Troy strides through the doorway and over to where Hickey and Abed are standing. They both fall silent, startled, and Troy barely gets a glimpse of Abed’s wide, shocked eyes and open mouth before he turns to Hickey and completely lets loose.

_ “What are you doing?” _ Troy screams. “Did you  _ handcuff Abed? _ Why are you  _ screaming  _ at him? What is  _ wrong  _ with you?  _ You are a teacher! You can’t handcuff a student! _ And for the record, Abed is  _ not  _ self-centered and he is  _ not _ egotistical, he _ loves his friends _ and he is a  _ good person _ and  _ why are you doing this? Why??” _

Hickey narrows his eyes at Troy. “Didn’t you  _ leave?” _ he asks. “What are you doing here? This is none of your business. It has nothing to do with you.”

“It has  _ everything _ to do with me! You’re-- you’re  _ abusing _ my best friend! Who I happen to be in love with! And it sounded like you were shouting some pretty mean things at him!”

Abed turns his head sharply towards Troy and raises a finger in the air, but Troy isn’t done.

“Also, why is Abed handcuffed here in his Kickpuncher costume instead of at the movie?  _ Are you holding him hostage?  _ Because I’m pretty sure that’s illegal, man.”

“I’m not holding anyone hostage,” Hickey grumbles. “I’m teaching your boyfriend here a lesson, because he’s spoiled and he thinks his actions don’t have consequences.”

Troy wonders if it’s possible to literally explode from anger. Tears of rage prick at his eyes.

“You think Abed is  _ spoiled?” _ Troy hisses. “You think he doesn’t understand  _ consequences? _ You’re making him relive his worst memories right now, do you know that? Locked up by a bully… Do you know how hard I’ve worked to try to show him that that  _ isn’t _ what’s going to happen to him anymore? To convince him that he  _ won’t _ end up all alone? And then I fucking went and... and  _ left _ him, and now I find him here like  _ this…”  _ Troy is full-on sobbing now, overwhelmed by the image of Abed in front of him and the fact that Troy left him and that now  _ this _ is happening.

“It’s healthy to be told _no_ once in a while,” Hickey spits. “You can’t walk on eggshells around him all the time.”

“Sure,” Troy says through his tears. “But Abed gets told  _ no _ every time he can’t look someone in the eye. Every time he doesn’t understand someone’s expression or inflection. Every time he doesn’t know how to react to something. Every time he has a meltdown in front of his friends, or his family, or the  _ entire damn school.  _ Do you think he can  _ control  _ those things? Do you think those experiences are  _ fun  _ for him? Do you really think we’re wrong, as his  _ friends, _ to try to throw him a  _ yes  _ every once in a while? Is that what you think  _ walking on eggshells  _ means?”

“He destroyed my drawings on purpose.”

Now Abed speaks up. “I did  _ not _ destroy your drawings on purpose,” he exclaims. “I didn’t mean for the foam to go everywhere. Yeah, maybe I was being childish, but I’m not a monster. Those could have been student exams or homework. I would never mess those up intentionally. Even if I’d known they were your duck drawings, I  _ still _ wouldn’t have messed them up intentionally.” He scowls at Hickey and yanks his arm a couple of times, rattling the file cabinet. 

“Unlock him!” Troy screeches. “What are you  _ doing? _ Why are you just  _ standing there?” _

Hickey is silent as he walks over and unlocks the handcuff from Abed’s wrist. Abed walks over to Troy and stands next to him.

“Are you going to apologize?” Troy asks, narrowing his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” Hickey says, staring up at the ceiling.

“For  _ what?” _ Troy asks, balling his hands into fists at his sides. 

Hickey sighs and shoves his hands in his pockets. He looks at Abed.

“I’m sorry for handcuffing you to the file cabinet,” he says, gruffly but sincerely. “And for...making assumptions.”

Troy looks at Abed, who nods.

“Okay,” Abed says to Hickey. “You should know that I  _ was  _ really sorry for accidentally destroying your drawings. But you handcuffed me and made me miss my movie on purpose, and I don’t think that was a fair response. So I’m not really sorry anymore. Maybe someday I will be again.” He turns to Troy. “Can we get out of here?”

“Yeah, buddy,” Troy says softly. “Let’s go.”

They walk out of the office and away from Hickey, closing the door behind them. They go to the study room so Abed can change back into regular clothes. When he’s done, he hops up on the table and Troy puts a blanket around his shoulders, hands him a styrofoam cup of water, and comes to stand in front of him. Abed tilts his head.

“You said you’re in love with me,” he says, and pauses. “Also, you came back. Are those things related? Are you back for good?”

“Yeah,” Troy says, and he’d forgotten he said that out loud, in front of Abed. “Yeah, um, and I realized I couldn’t be away from you. And we figured out a loophole. I can tell you about it later. How...does that make you feel?”

“You telling me later about the loophole?”

“No, me being in love with you.”

“It makes my own feelings make more sense,” Abed says slowly. “I didn’t understand why I felt like I was dying, and why everything was wrong without you here. But if it’s because  _ I’m  _ in love with  _ you, _ too, the pieces all come together.” He smiles wistfully. “I thought there wasn’t a trope to fit what I was feeling. But I was wrong. There are  _ so many, _ and I was just confused because I was looking at things through a typical Hollywood heteronormative lens.”

“Those were a lot of words,” Troy says, nodding. “But I’m pretty sure somewhere in there you said you love me too, right?”

“Yeah, Troy,” Abed says. “I love you, too.”

“Can I kiss you?”

Abed nods, and Troy leans in and wraps his arms around him. 

“I’m so glad you’re back,” Abed whispers.

“Me too, buddy,” Troy replies, and then kisses him, softly at first, but more intensely as they each pull closer and begin to explore, both trying to hold onto what they almost lost. 

“Oh,” Abed gasps when they finally pull apart. “Oh.”

“Are you okay?” Troy asks. 

“Yeah, I just…” Abed says dreamily. “I realized that I was locked up, and you came and saved me. Like a Prince Charming. Does this mean we get to live happily ever after?”

“I think that can probably be arranged,” Troy says, and leans in to kiss him again.


End file.
